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Oregon Militant Leader Ammon Bundy Arrested After Highway Confrontation With Law Enforcement That Killed One And Wounded Another

Ammon Bundy

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

Ammon Bundy, leader of the month-long militant occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Burns, Oregon, was arrested Tuesday in a highway confrontation with law enforcement that killed one of his followers and wounded another, according to the FBI.

Bundy and four followers, including his brother, Ryan, were arrested during a traffic stop in which shots were fired, the FBI said in a statement. Killed was Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, who had acted as spokesman for the armed group of occupiers, according to the Bundy Ranch.

The FBI said the shootings happened when agents, along with Oregon state troopers, “began an enforcement action” on Highway 395 to arrest people involved in the armed occupation on charges of conspiracy to impede federal officials from discharging their duties.

“During that arrest, there were shots fired,” the FBI said. “One individual who was a subject of a federal probable cause arrest is deceased. … One individual suffered non-life threatening injuries.”

Finicum, a rancher from Arizona with 11 foster children, made headlines this month after conducting an interview from beneath a blue tarp on live television while carrying a rifle on his lap. During another interview with NBC, Finicum said he was willing to die rather than be arrested and cautioned authorities against pointing a gun at him.

“I have no intention of spending any of my days in a concrete box,” he said. “There are things more important than your life and freedom is one of them.”

A sixth person involved in the occupation was arrested about 90 minutes after the highway stop in Burns, the FBI said.

Independent radio host Peter Santilli, who has been live-streaming from the refuge, also was arrested in Burns around 6:30 p.m., the FBI said. He faces the same felony charges as the others. Jon Ritzheimer, a militant who released a video of himself opening packages sent to the reserve that turned out to be sex toys, turned himself into authorities in Arizona on conspiracy charges.

“We have been informed that Ammon was taken in to custody while outside the refuge and that shots were fired, but confirmation of these details is still lacking,” the Bundy Ranch said on its Facebook page.

A sixth person involved in the occupation was arrested about 90 minutes after the highway stop in Burns, the FBI said.

Independent radio host Peter Santilli, who has been live-streaming from the refuge, also was arrested in Burns around 6:30 p.m., the FBI said. He faces the same felony charges as the others. Jon Ritzheimer, a militant who released a video of himself opening packages sent to the reserve that turned out to be sex toys, turned himself into authorities in Arizona on conspiracy charges.

“We have been informed that Ammon was taken in to custody while outside the refuge and that shots were fired, but confirmation of these details is still lacking,” the Bundy Ranch said on its Facebook page.

Cliven Bundy, the Arizona rancher who butted heads with the federal government in 2014, decried the arrest of two of his sons in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

“We believe that those federal people shouldn’t even be there in that state, and be in that county and have anything to do with this issue,” he said. “… Now we’ve got one killed, and all I can say is, he’s sacrificed for a good purpose.”

Source: Huffington Post

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